Train collision kills 1 in West Virginia

SCARY CREEK, West Virginia (CNN) -- One crew member was
killed Saturday night when a freight train rear-ended a train
carrying coal about 10 miles outside Charleston.

Two of the freight train's cars derailed, and cars carrying
automobile parts burst into flames. Hundreds of nearby
residents were evacuated because authorities feared the
flames could spread to cars carrying sulfuric acid, bleach
and other chemicals.

CSX Transportation spokeswoman Kathy Burns said a tank car
carrying acetyl aldehyde was on fire, but had been doused "with a foam" to
prevent the chemical's fumes from spreading.

Six people were on the two trains. The dead crew member and
two injured crew members were on the freight train, Burns
said. The injured were taken to a Charleston hospital, and
Burns said their injuries don't appear serious. The three
crew members aboard the coal train were not injured.

State trooper R.D. Stonestreet, one of the first officers to
arrive on the scene, said "the fire was burning so bright you
couldn't really see what it was."

"The hillside was on fire," he said, "but there were no
houses on fire."

The evacuated residents were being housed at a local school
overnight, said Jennifer Wright, a spokeswoman at the Putnam
County Sheriff's Department. Some residents were temporarily
trapped in their homes by the wreckage, which blocked the
only road out of the hollow where they lived, but Wright said
that group was also evacuated.

"I saw fire shoot 100 to 150 feet in the air," said resident
Steve Bowman. "I could smell the coal burning. I live close
enough I could feel the heat from the fire."

Railroad spokesman Rob Gould said both trains were traveling
to Virginia, but could not speculate on the cause of the
crash.